


Woods

by Koschei_Oakdown



Category: Green Lantern - All Media Types
Genre: Abduction, Decisions, Future Fic, M/M, Mentions of Drink Spiking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:40:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21796993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koschei_Oakdown/pseuds/Koschei_Oakdown
Summary: With no more universe ending battles to fight, Sinestro decides to give Hal the happy ending they deserve.
Relationships: Hal Jordan/Thaal Sinestro
Comments: 8
Kudos: 37





	Woods

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spctrcs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spctrcs/gifts).



> Credit to DC Comics

When Hal woke, there was a sore crick in his neck from how he'd apparently been sleeping while standing up. Groaning, he made to rub at that sore spot but his arms had been bound by his sides and he couldn't move.

The lingering after effects of sleep faded away into concern, and Hal's eyebrows drew together. What was going on?

With difficulty and moving slowly to avoid any sudden spikes of pain, Hal lifted his head. Around him were tall straight trees, stretching up to the sky, and the ground was grassy and appeared quite soft. Sunlight shone down, lighting up the area bright enough that Hal had to squint. His head was really sore.

No one was in sight, which Hal found strange. Surely someone had to be responsible for tying him up to this tree. Unless he'd been left here, all alone and to die.

"Hello?" Hal called out. His voice was hoarse, throat scratchy. This wasn't comfortable at all and he pulled a face. He had to get out of here, had to escape.

Gaze cast down at the rope around him now, Hal began to struggle, hoping to at least loosen his bonds a bit. It did not succeed and he stopped, panting. Quite suddenly, he was grateful for the tree he was underneath. If he'd been left out in the sun, he'd be in a much worse condition.

Grass rustled behind Hal and he twisted, tried to see what had made the sound. All that was visible to him was the bark of the trunk he was bound to. At least until Sinestro walked into view.

Everything immediately made so much more sense. Hal could remember now, in flashes of memories across his eyes, how he'd gone to meet up with Sinestro, how he'd accepted the drink he'd been offered and how it was all blurry from that point.

A deep feeling of betrayal and anger burned in Hal's chest. "You drugged me," he accused, couldn't believe how he'd been tricked. "You - how could you?! I trusted you! We promised we wouldn't attack each other." Or had Sinestro just ignored that, dismissed it as unimportant and had absolutely no qualms about stabbing Hal in the back?

"I didn't attack you," Sinestro disagreed calmly, coming to a stop in front of Hal, arms folded behind his back and chin tilted up. "I merely tied you up."

Specifics didn't matter to Hal right now and he scowled. "Same thing," he shot back but at least Sinestro wasn't cackling maniacally and going on about some evil plan.

No response was given, other than for Sinestro to press a yellow cup of clear water to Hal's lips. He must've noticed the dryness of Hal's throat, the difficulty he'd been going through speaking. Wary of the last time he'd accepted a drink from Sinestro though, Hal kept his lips pressed tightly together.

Of course, Sinestro picked up on that too, watching Hal with bright knowing eyes. "I promise this isn't drugged," Sinestro murmured to him. "It will help you."

In those eyes, which Hal could not look away from, he saw nothing but someone who was totally trustworthy and the same person he had been spending so much of his time with recently. Because Sinestro was the only one left and all Hal had now.

Most of Hal's close colleagues in the Green Lantern Corps had moved on. Dead or returned to life of a civilian. Some were just too busy for him. The Justice League too were unavailable. They'd broken up years ago, and Hal had been banished from Earth. No human wanted a hero anymore. That age was over.

As Hal had felt more and more alienated from the young new Lanterns around him, he'd sought out Sinestro's company and allowed it to become the thing he most valued. Perhaps that was why it had hurt so much to think Sinestro would betray him.

Hal tipped his head forward and sipped from the cup. The water was cool, trickled down his throat, soothing his sore head and revitalising his throat. Not once did the thought occur to him to spit it back in Sinestro's face, not until he'd drunk it all anyway.

Only a few drops of water remained on Hal's lips now and he licked them off. Sinestro's eyes followed the movement. Then his gaze snapped up as Hal said abruptly, "Thanks. But I'm still mad at you."

The cup in Sinestro's hand disappeared, construct fading, and that was when Hal noticed the lack of a ring on Sinestro's finger. A quick glance confirmed that Hal's ring too was gone. Well obviously, Sinestro didn't want him to escape. But that didn't explain where Sinestro's ring was.

"I wished to speak with you," Sinestro explained himself, backing off from Hal with several steps. His arms crossed over his front now, still no yellow in sight.

Without a ring, Sinestro was most likely relying on Parallax to form constructs. Maybe once, long ago, that would've been disconcerting, but Hal was used to it by now. And he'd seen, had it proven to him, just how much control Sinestro had over Parallax. It was quite incredible.

"You know I would've listened to you without the dramatics," Hal pointed out. "You didn't have to drug me. Or tie me up. Or steal my ring… Where is it, by the way?" If Hal found that out, maybe he could get it back and then he wouldn't be tied to this tree anymore.

Unfortunately, and Hal was quick to realise it, there was no hope to get his ring back. "I tossed it into a star," was Sinestro's casual answer. "Along with my own. Your Corps will no doubt believe us to be dead. As will my own."

Hal gaped. "What? Why?" He couldn't understand it. Everything had been going so well between them. Hadn't it?

"Because I no longer need it." In an agitated fashion, Sinestro's fingers tapped against his bicep, then they stilled. "Nor do you." He moved forward, towards Hal, and grasped the human's shoulder. "Tell me, Hal, when was the last time you truly enjoyed your work as a Green Lantern?"

Defiant, Hal opened his mouth to respond. No words came out. He didn't know the answer, couldn't remember. His Green Lantern duty was all but a chore to him now, the same arguments and the same fights everyday. No longer was he called upon to stop world ending threats - there were none. It was all just boring.

There was something knowing in Sinestro's gaze again, in the smug curve of his lips. The hand on Hal's shoulder moved down, rested against his chest instead. "I have not had contact with my Corps for many years," Sinestro confessed. "You are my only joy."

That would explain then why Sinestro was always available to meet with Hal and why he'd taken to shadowing Hal on several missions. Oddly enough, those were the missions Hal enjoyed most.

With every breath inhaled into Hal's lungs, he could feel Sinestro's hand on him, pushing down against his heart. "Let me go." It was not a suggestion.

After a short pause, a beam of yellow energy sliced through the ropes binding Hal. They fell away, curling into a pile on the ground, and Hal could now move however he chose to. The result of what he chose was to grab Sinestro by the hips and press him back first against the tree where Hal had been moments before.

Nothing about the touch of Sinestro against him was unfamiliar. They slotted together, two puzzle pieces, and the image made was breathtaking.

The height difference between them was accounted for, even as they stood nose to nose. Hal's head was tilted up while Sinestro's was tilted down. There was nothing awkward about it, not when it was second nature, an automatic adjustment.

"What do you think we should do?" Hal questioned. Surely, Sinestro had a plan, why else would he have basically abducted Hal, faked their deaths and discarded their rings?

"My intentions…" Sinestro began, before breaking off, gaze flicking down and away. The muscles in his throat shifted as he swallowed. Was he nervous? Unsure?

Slightly amused, Hal rested a hand on the bark at Sinestro's side and smiled up at him. "Spit it out. Or I might have to arrest you and no one wants that."

Sinestro frowned at him, which only drew Hal's attention to his lips. It was unavoidable. They were practically shoved in Hal's line of sight. He couldn't not look of them. That would've been impossible.

It was kind of amazing to Hal that he could still be so interested in Sinestro's lips even after the hours and hours he'd spent with the Korugarian recently. Maybe he'd just never get bored of it. That seemed likely and it was a thought Hal had considered before. Nothing would ever make him grow tired of Sinestro.

A snap of fingers by Hal's ear drew him out of his thoughts and his gaze flicked up. "Focus, Jordan," Sinestro chastised. "My plan, for I do I have one, is no more fighting. No more Corps, no more Lanterns." He gripped one of the hands Hal had on his hips. "My intentions are to have only you."

Those last few words were softened, a breath on Hal's face, travelling down his nose to the corner of his mouth. They were everything Hal wanted to hear.

With a sigh, Hal dropped his gaze and rested his forehead against Sinestro's shoulder. It wasn't that he didn't want only Sinestro as well. He was just attached to his Corps even if not quite as much as he'd once been. To be with Sinestro, as Sinestro was suggesting, he'd have to give it up.

Maybe there was a way to avoid it. What they'd had was working, wasn't it? Why did it have to change?

"We weren't fighting," Hal pointed out. "Not properly. We haven't done that in ages." Sure, there was the occasional stupid argument but there always had been. "I don't plan to start again any time soon."

"It may not be your choice," Sinestro countered, and he didn't sound at all annoyed. Just understanding. "For as long as you obey the whim of your Corps, there is always the possibility they will order you to bring me in. I don't want for you to be torn when it happens."

"It already did," Hal murmured. "If I see you, I'm supposed to take you to them." His head shifted to the side a little, so he could trace his fingers over one of Sinestro's ribs. "But you haven't done anything wrong."

There was a short pause, Sinestro most likely digesting what Hal had just told him. Then he caught Hal's fingers in his own. "Don't you see? They no longer need you, Hal. The universe is safe."

But Hal was shaking his head, straightening up and looking Sinestro in the eyes. "It might not be for long. There'll be some threat, something they need us for. I can't just leave."

"You would have us wait then, forever, in limbo until we are called upon? No, Hal." Sinestro was shaking his head. "I am done waiting."

They were at an impasse then and Sinestro would leave, writing Hal off as a lost cause. There was nothing Hal could do to prevent it though he wanted to, badly.

But Sinestro didn't leave. A short breath was exhaled through his nose, like a sigh, and he took Hal by the shoulder. "We can return," he decided brusquely, "should they need us. I have no wish to see the universe implode, not after everything I have tried to do for it."

The tone of his voice softened after that and he cupped Hal's jaw with a hand. "Will that satisfy you?" he asked. "We can do whatever we like. No longer will we be bound by others. We can build a cabin in the woods and hide in it so no one may tear us apart."

It was a nice dream - why did it have to be a dream? Couldn't it be reality? Hal wanted it to be, wanted it more than he'd wanted anything in a very long time.

In the end, Sinestro was right. There was nothing really keeping Hal from denying him any longer, no reason to refuse. His Corps could do without him, and he could do without his Corps.

A bright smile spread over Hal's lips, now he'd come to the decision he'd been wanting to make for a good part of his life. "OK then," he said.


End file.
